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McCain: 'Lighten up' about Iran monkey tweet

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is in some hot water over a Twitter post, in which he compared Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday to a monkey. The 2008 GOP presidential nominee followed up with

McCain: 'Lighten up' about Iran monkey tweet

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is drawing some criticism over a Twitter post, in which he compared Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a monkey.

The 2008 GOP presidential nominee followed up with another tweet that urged people to "lighten up, folks" and said his comment was a joke. That prompted a response from Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., who said McCain should "not make racist jokes."

This flap began Monday when McCain, a prolific tweeter with about 1.8 million Twitter followers, posted a link to a Reuters news story from last week that reported Iran sent a monkey into space.

The Iranian president said he'd like to be the first human from his country in space, which sparked McCain to mock him on Twitter: "So Ahmadinejad wants to be the first Iranian in space – wasn't he just there last week?"

McCain has frequently criticized Ahmadinejad and Iran, calling the country a "rogue nation" for its nuclear ambitions and for thwarting sanctions against weapons development . In 2007, when he was campaigning for president, McCain responded to a question about what the United States should do about Iran by switching out the lyrics of a famous Beach Boys song and calling it "Bomb Iran."

His reaction in 2007 was a little like his response today. "Lighten up, and get a life," McCain said then.